The bottom line is that Ponder threw four interceptions in a 34-24 loss to the Detroit Lions. Two resulted in Lions’ touchdowns and it would have been three had one interception return not been negated by Ndamukong Suh’s ridiculous (and dangerous) illegal block.

“On Sunday, it was not all about Christian,” Frazier told the paper. “He had his mistakes. But the fact is the quarterback position is much more magnified. He just happens to play the position with the most scrutiny.

“We had other guys, trust me, that when we watched the tape the scrutiny that needed to be had in those moments, they are well aware that they have to play better. They’re not looking at our quarterback and saying, ‘If he had done this or that, we would have won that ballgame.’ We need to play better across the board.”

Indeed, it’s not fair to make a total assessment after one week. The Vikings, after all, were in the playoffs last season.

The key is getting him to play well consistently.

“Our margin of error is small,” Frazier said. “So if we’re turning the ball over, it just shrinks our opportunity to win.”